WELL HERE WE ARE–I can’t believe we’re so close to the end already, but ce la vie, as they say. Today we pick back up with David on the T of his Social Media for I.D.I.O.T.S., which deals with knowing when the right time is to sell your social media followers on your services.

David Newman: T: Talk without Action. After discouraging you from over-selling, the next mistake is leaving OUT a vital ingredient to your social media marketing efforts – a “call to action” (often abbreviated as CTA).

Too many speakers, consultants, and thought-leading professionals do almost everything right… but then leave their fans, followers, and subscribers wondering what to do next.

See how many of the following statements sound familiar:

“I’ve been blogging for 2 years and haven’t gotten a single call or email about hiring me.”

“I work for hours and hours on my e-zine and although I get compliments about how good the articles are, I’ve never gotten business from it.”

“I post all the time on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn but I’ve never gotten a single phone call from any of my social media efforts.”

How to do it right: The answer is simple – people need to be told what to do next. If you want people to email you, explicitly invite them to do so AND give them a compelling reason AND provide your email address. Example: My friend Scott Ginsberg always ends each blog post with an invitation similar to this one:

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a list called, “9 Things Every Writer Needs to Do Every Day,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!
* * * *Scott GinsbergThat Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentorscott@hellomynameisscott.com

If you want people to call you, use the same strategy. Invite the call and provide your phone number. For example, Gerard Braud is a media training and crisis communications expert who introduces himself to hand-selected high-probability prospects on LinkedIn and ends his message this way:

Action Question: Are you using value-first CTAs in your emails, blogs, and social media postings? Are you giving people a compelling reason to engage further with you in meaningful ways such as subscribing to your e-zine, calling you or emailing you?

* * *

Well… On Friday I’ll post the final installment of my interview with David. I hope you’ve read all of the previous insights he’s given us because the sum total adds up to a shot at leveraging the power of Social Media to help your business succeed. Now that I’m running an SBE again I can tell you that when we help each other out the road does get a bit smoother. Running an SBE is a long distance race, let’s help each other to stop being social media idiots, let’s build some real community and let’s not run the race alone.

I’ve got a limited number of slots to connect with Supplier Connection registered SBEs. If you’d like to schedule some time, post a comment on this blog and I’ll connect with you.